Homemade Baking Mix

People often ask me, because I make most of our food from scratch, if I have any convenience foods.  You bet it do!  Here's one of my staples, Homemade Baking Mix.  Due to my thrifty nature, I just can't spend $5 or more for a box of mix that I can make for less than a dollar.  And I can pronounce everything in my mix!  We use this for pancakes, waffles, biscuits and muffins.

Here's the recipe:

HOMEMADE BAKING MIX

8 cups flour (I use 4 white and 4 whole wheat)

2T baking powder

1T salt

1t baking soda

2t cream of tartar

2 cups dry non-fat milk

2 cups shortening (or other solid fat, I use coconut)

I started with 4 cups of white flour.

Added 4 cups of whole wheat flour.  (I've never seen baking mix in the store with whole wheat.  Yet another plus for making your own!)

Then the baking powder.  Make sure you use fresh baking powder.  Anything over about 9 months old has significantly lost its strength.

And then the salt, in dramatic lighting.  The dramatic lighting really adds to the whole recipe.

Find one last jar of cream of tartar that escaped the playdough making marathon.

 (And then forget to take a picture of the soda.  That really helps as well.)

And the dry milk.  

It's just that easy, folks!

Hook up the old KitchenAid with paddle attachment and set it to stir.  One day Hubby asked, "Didn't WE get that mixer as a wedding present from your folks?  What have I gotten out of that deal?"  I just looked at him, as he stood there eating an oatmeal cookie.  Then he got it.

As the dry ingredients are mixing, you'll add 1/2 cupfuls (4 of them) of your shortening.  We use organic coconut.

If you would add the shortening all at once, it would fly up and throw the dry ingredients out of the bowl.  Take it easy and do it a little at a time.

 When it's done, it will be mealy in texture, just like the store bought stuff...only better!  Because you made it yourself.

Then get the same industrious three year old to scoop it out of the bowl and into an airtight container for storage.  It will keep for months.  How many?  I don't know, we use it in less than one so I can't say how long it will go.

Then clean up after said industrious and helpful three year old.

See that proud smile!  It melts a mama's heart.

That morning we made waffles.  I fried up some eggs over easy and sandwiched them between the waffles, just like my mom eats it.  Drizzle some syrup over the top....YUMM!!

RECIPES:

Biscuits:  2 cups mix, 1/2 cup water.  Bake at 450 degrees for 8-10min.  (I've added in green onions, garlic, shredded cheese, etc. for some very tasty biscuits!)

Muffins:  2 cups mix, 2T sugar, 1 beaten egg, 2/3 cup milk.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  (I've also mixed in the above items for savory muffins or a cup of fruit for sweet muffins.)

Pancakes:  2 cups mix, 1 1/3 cups milk, 1 beaten egg.  

Waffles:  2 cups mix, 1 beaten egg, 2T oil, 1 1/3 cups milk.

This baking mix is an excellent way to start your homemade life!